Recovery Reminders
Living gratefully, a day at a time, I acknowledge the grace and gift of ongoing recovery from alcoholism. I also appreciated the sunshine and blue skies yesterday, in spite of the cold wind.
One day at a time. The last words of my post yesterday become some of the first words of my post today. It is a phrase heard often among recovering alcoholics and addicts. It is at the heart of staying on track in sobriety and getting to quality recovery. Never drink again? Yikes! Don't drink today? I think I can make it.
And once the urge to drink lessens, the ODAT wisdom can be, should be, applied to daily living. Not drinking is just a start. My drinking was a symptom of my thinking and living problems. The alcohol is gone, the "ism" is still there.
I need regular reminders to keep recovery a priority. Complacency is dangerous to people like me, so I have a healthy fear of it. Just like my efforts to live gratefully, my efforts to live in recovery are daily. That is as important to me, with some time adding up in recovery, as it is to someone newly sober.
The reminders come in many forms. They come regularly when I have an open mind and heart, and stay connected to others in recovery. I hear what I need to hear. I share a laugh. I speak of my own experience, further deepening it. I also get reminders from the Higher Power, or Great Spirit, I have in my life. I know I am not alone.
My family and friends who aren't in recovery are also good sources of support and encouragement, but without my recovery connections, I would lose direction and motivation.
Taking our gifts for granted diminishes them. Recovery is a gift. It's an ongoing process. Simple, but not easy. I have a disease that wants me to drink again. Daily recovery shuts that disease up, but we both wake up again the next day. Daily work for a daily disease. It's the best I can do, and it works when I work it.
Thank you to all who regularly remind me of what I am and what I need to do. It makes all the difference.
One day at a time. The last words of my post yesterday become some of the first words of my post today. It is a phrase heard often among recovering alcoholics and addicts. It is at the heart of staying on track in sobriety and getting to quality recovery. Never drink again? Yikes! Don't drink today? I think I can make it.
And once the urge to drink lessens, the ODAT wisdom can be, should be, applied to daily living. Not drinking is just a start. My drinking was a symptom of my thinking and living problems. The alcohol is gone, the "ism" is still there.
I need regular reminders to keep recovery a priority. Complacency is dangerous to people like me, so I have a healthy fear of it. Just like my efforts to live gratefully, my efforts to live in recovery are daily. That is as important to me, with some time adding up in recovery, as it is to someone newly sober.
The reminders come in many forms. They come regularly when I have an open mind and heart, and stay connected to others in recovery. I hear what I need to hear. I share a laugh. I speak of my own experience, further deepening it. I also get reminders from the Higher Power, or Great Spirit, I have in my life. I know I am not alone.
My family and friends who aren't in recovery are also good sources of support and encouragement, but without my recovery connections, I would lose direction and motivation.
Taking our gifts for granted diminishes them. Recovery is a gift. It's an ongoing process. Simple, but not easy. I have a disease that wants me to drink again. Daily recovery shuts that disease up, but we both wake up again the next day. Daily work for a daily disease. It's the best I can do, and it works when I work it.
Thank you to all who regularly remind me of what I am and what I need to do. It makes all the difference.
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